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"The real answer is that time apart takes its toll," says their friend. "Physical distance creates emotional distance." For now, Sambora can count on the boys in the band to get him through the inevitable "mourning period," says Friend. "They came from the same streets in New Jersey. They will be there for him." For her part, Locklear is lying low, taking one day at a time. Though "her career is important to her," says her friend, an industry source notes that "she doesn't want to commit to anything long-term at the moment. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life right now."
Except, like Sambora, be a good parent to Ava. "She is beyond the priority for both of them," says their friend. Now the hope is that all that parental love will, if not bring the couple back together, at least keep Locklear and Sambora in an amicable place. "They're both good people who really deserve good lives," says their friend. "They admire and respect each other. That's why it's so hard, and so sad."
• By Karen S. Schneider. Alexis Chiu, Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna, Tom Cunneff and Ulrica Wihlborg in L.A., Sandra Sobieraj and Emily Hochberg in Washington, D.C., and Diane Herbst in New York City
